Making Waves

A sampling of cutting-edge motion decoys to help shake up your spread

Super Wonderduck Tornado

The Super Wonderduck Tornado was designed to create a variety of movement to pull ducks from great distances. This decoy's body moves erratically and rotates completely around every couple seconds, the rate of spin depending on the operator's adjustments. Feet thrash the water to put even more waves in your spread. The Super Wonderduck Tornado, which runs up to 25 hours on two D-cell batteries, is available in mallard drake, mallard hen, and pintail drake models. A weedless attachment can be ordered separately. wonderduck.com

Make Your Own Jerk Cord

Talk to a dozen waterfowl hunters and you might get a dozen different variations on how to make a jerk cord. Designs range from ultra-simple to somewhat complex. One hunter's jerk cord may be rigged to a single decoy. Another's may be designed to move a dozen decoys or more.

But anyone can make one of these contraptions. There are, after all, relatively few components. The basics include a long length of line (this can be rope or other material); a shorter piece of bungee cord or surgical tubing or a spring from a screen door; a cinder block, anchor, or post sunk in the water; and one or more decoys. That's it. If you choose to employ an anchor, those used for a small boat are fine; some hunters make their own anchor by filling a large can or bucket with cement and embedding an eye bolt in the top. One end of the bungee cord, surgical tubing, or spring is secured to the eye bolt, anchor, or post with a hook, knot, or snap swivel. The other is secured to the main line and run back to the blind (30-35 yards is plenty).

Decoys, which shouldn't be attached too close to the flexible end, are tied off about three feet apart on short lengths of cord along the main line. When ducks are spotted, simply yank the rope back and forth. This causes the flexible end to snap back and forth, moving the decoys and the water around them.

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